


You're Not a Tree

by Basilintime



Category: Pacific Rim (Movies)
Genre: Baby Kaiju, M/M, Post-Canon, Starting Over, cloning, planning for the future, uprising don't interact
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-01-20
Updated: 2019-01-20
Packaged: 2019-10-13 14:47:02
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,342
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17489939
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Basilintime/pseuds/Basilintime
Summary: The breach is closed and Dr's Geiszler and Gottlieb are having to adjust to life after the war. The two of them set out to tackle life together as they move and transfer to a new Shatterdome. Working under a new Marshal they begin working on new projects to help the PPDC carry forward including Newton's thoughts on replicating the kaiju as they once existed before the Precursor's interference.





	You're Not a Tree

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Sarah1281](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Sarah1281/gifts).



> This is for the wonderful Sarah <3

          Newton glanced at the time and gave a soft huff of frustration as he saw how late it was getting. He knew that, in theory, that he didn’t have to push to get things done around the clock anymore but he had samples he wanted to finish dissecting so they could be preserved. Included in that batch were the last of the samples from Otachi, Leatherback and the fetus.

          That was his main focus now. He had viable cells to work with, ones that showed promise to be preserved intact and alive. It wasn’t that he was actually going to clone the kaiju, not right away at least, but the option to continue learning was too hard to resist. There was so much that they didn’t know still and given the glimpses he’d caught in the drift, well, Newton wanted to learn. Newton wanted to know what they had been like before all the modifications put in place by the Precursors. So, he wanted to get while the getting was good.

          Not to mention there would be no new samples at this point. Which was a _good_ thing. Newton was solidly on the side of that being a _good thing_ but that didn’t make it any less disappointing that his entire life’s work had suddenly been cut short. His preserved specimens, though great for anatomical study, didn’t give him anything into genetics at this point. They may as well be made of plastic anymore with all that preservative they’d been floating in.

          He was working inside the hood, head bent close to the glass barrier as he plated the cells carefully in the growth medium. He had two sets that he was hoping to then freeze to preserve as two separate seed lines. The first would be the plated and, hopefully, high concentrated line he was currently working with. The second was a line of cells pulled directly from the tissue that he had already put into the freezing medium and was chilling in the liquid nitrogen.

          “Why are you up so late?” Newton bumped his forehead against the glass and knocked his glasses a little askew when he heard the sound of Hermann’s voice. Luckily, he managed to not also bump his plate that he’d just managed to successfully introduce his cells to. He placed the cover on top of it before pulling his arms free from the hood so he could turn to face Hermann who was standing near the lab door looking at him with a frown.

          “Workin’. I wanted to get these cells plated before I lost any more viability. I’ve got plans, Hermms.” Newton pulled his gloves off as he gave Hermann a smile. He was wearing sweats and looked a bit like he’d been sleeping at some point. Newton hoped he hadn’t woken him up. Their link from the drift still seemed to be going strong and apparently Newton was ‘loud’ sometimes.

          “Do any of these plans include going to sleep anytime soon?”

          “Maybe…in like…twenty minutes? Thirty?” Newton would need to pull the cells from the liquid nitrogen cooler and move them to the -80 freezer here in a bit. And he had one more batch he wanted to plate then he’d need to get the plates he’d created placed in the incubator. They could sit for the rest of the night before he checked on them. Give those cells plenty of time to divide and conquer their tiny space.

          Hermann gave him a deadpan stare for a second before he stifled a yawn and moved to pull a chair up besides him.

          “You could head to bed? I’ll be quiet when I come in, promise.” Newton leaned to press a kiss against Hermann’s cheek as he settled back against the counter once he made certain he wasn’t going to knock anything over. Hermann’s expression softened a little as he tugged Newton back in closer for a proper peck on the lips.

          “I’ll keep you company. I wasn’t able to sleep as it was.”

          “Sorry babe.” Newton winced a little but reached to grab a fresh pair of gloves to snap into place. Hermann waved off his apology and Newton ducked his arms back into the hood to get the last plate set up. “You look through those places I sent you? I really like that loft that’d just a few blocks from the ‘dome. Good view, decent size for the price and no second floor.”

          “Hmm, I did like that one though it was the top of our budget. I also liked the one that was a little further away but we’d only share the floor with one other place. It would be quieter as well.” Newton frowned in concentration as he carefully poured the growth medium into the plate doing his best not to spill. He had to take a moment to mentally picture the one that Hermann was talking about. The memory of the open layout supplied itself, well, was supplied by Hermann in the back of his mind and Newton gave a thoughtful hum.

          “I did like that one…You aren’t worried it’s too far? I know you prefer not to drive if you don’t have to.” Newton tilted his head back to look at him for a moment though he couldn’t divide his attention too much. Hermann was not a fan of driving so being within walking distance had been a major plus. The condo he was talking about wasn’t a terrible drive but it’d be a bit much on foot.

          “I looked into it some. There is a Metro stop not far that would be a simple ride. It might be worth the extra space.” Newton nodded his head as he got ready to add the extracted cells into the plate. A light rail ride wouldn’t be terrible and they would typically be coming into and leaving work together. If they had to drive for some reason Newton could handle it. “Maybe we should go see them both when we fly out there this weekend? We’ll need to decide soon since the move is coming up so fast.”

          “Yes, that would likely be wise.” Newton could tell that Hermann was watching him work. He got the cells plated carefully in their medium and placed the lid on top of it once more. “Just what are you working on?”

          “Preserving cell lines. Seeing if I have any luck getting them to grow.” Newton gave him a wide smile in contrast to the skeptical look Hermann was giving him in return. There hadn’t been a lot of discussion in regards to work since the breach had been closed. Well, that wasn’t completely true. There had been plenty of discussion in relation to the work they’d done during the war. Final reports to wrap up, debriefing sessions, the council deciding what could and couldn’t be declassified which, in turn, decided what they were able to publish under their names.

          “See if they grow into what, exactly?” Newton gave a soft laugh at the tone in Hermann’s voice as he carefully moved to get the last of the plates loaded into the incubator. He shifted away from the hood to move over to the liquid nitrogen container to pull the samples from there to move into the -80 C freezer.

          “More cells, Dr. Gottlieb, a plethora of them if possible. I have a limited supply if you haven’t noticed. There’s still a lot of things that we need to explore and figure out about the kaiju especially if we want to try and counter act some of the damage done by them.” And, maybe, possibly the thought of more had crossed his mind. Granted, cloning a full-on kaiju wasn’t something that even Newton would be dumb enough to do. That didn’t discount the possibility of some sort of hybrid.

          Hermann made a thoughtful noise that indicated that Newton had maybe not covered his thought process all that well. Still, it was a long shot that would ever happen. He’d need a surrogate mother or some sort of functioning artificial womb for the clone which would be near impossible. He sighed at the thought as he pulled on the insulated gloves to lift the samples from the liquid nitrogen.

          “There is _some_ truth in that statement…” Hermann let the sentence hang for a moment and Newton rolled his eyes. “Are they going to allow you to take cell lines once we transfer?”

          “Well, yeah, I mean…we’ll still be working with the PPDC, Hermms, even if it’s not in the direct fulltime aspect we are now. And there’s not a whole lot of point in trying to hide the kaiju genetic material given all the black-market dealers out there. I met one of those, you know.” Newton gave Hermann an expectant look from over the top of his glasses before he carefully lifted the sample container up out of the Dewar and then pushed his rolling chair towards the freezer. He was certain it looked very dramatic and sexy but Hermann appeared impervious to it as he gave Newton a deadpan stare.

          “Yes, Newton, I have heard all about your very dramatic meeting with Hannibal Chau that I’m certain isn’t exaggerated in the least.” Newton huffed as he tugged the freezer door open and carefully set the samples inside.

          “Look, I know he was technically eaten by the time you arrived but the guy held a knife on me. He was dangerous. Is, apparently, still dangerous? Anyway, the PPDC should have no reason to keep me from using the cell lines. And, honestly, if they did…life finds a way, Hermann.”

          Newton rolled his chair back towards the hood and Hermann carefully stopped him before he banged into it. Newt made a soft noise of contentment when Hermann lightly kissed him. He could get used to that. No, he’d never get used to that actually. Kissing Hermann was something too good to get used to. It would always be a wonder.

          “Are you finished contemplating borderline illegal activities for the night? I would like to get some sleep.”

          “Yes, dear.” Newton smiled dreamily at Hermann whose expression softened. Newton leaned into it when Hermann cupped his cheek; felt a content sort of excitement that they were actually here and together at the end of the war. Newton turned his head so he could place a kiss against the palm of Hermann’s hand before shifting to get up from his chair. His little slices of genetic material were set for the night and now all he wanted to do was curl up next to Hermann and rest.

 

*

 

          "It's good to finally meet you both. I have heard quite a lot about you two and it's an honor to have you continuing to work with us."

          They had flown into San Francisco late Sunday night and had had enough time to check into their hotel room before going to bed given their early meeting with the Marshall this morning. Hermann was still attempting to nurse the paper cup of rather repulsive hotel coffee even now as they sat in the oversized office.

          Hermann wasn't certain he liked this Marshal so far. He was polite enough, formal and accommodating from what they had seen. However, he was a bureaucrat, not a soldier. He'd been involved in the PPDC during the war but in a coveted office position. He did seem as if he had credentials.

          Degrees hung on his wall like medals and the newly reinstated San Francisco Shatterdome was running smoothly in a short amount of time. He was certain it would be a change from working under Marshal Pentecost. Hermann glanced at Newton for just a moment and thought it may not be a bad change. 

          He had greatly respected Marshal Pentecost; understood his choices and decisions in regards to how those final days were handled. That didn't change the fact that a small part of him hated the man. Hated him for sending Newton to what clearly could have been his demise. Desperate choices that, fortunately, paid out in the end. 

          "Well, I mean, really it's like coming back to work for you all given the fact that the council kind of cut us loose there at the end." Hermann closed his eyes as a feeling of exasperation reared up at Newton's words. The smile that the Marshal had been giving them tightened slightly; became a little less friendly and severely more forced. In contrast, there was Newton, leaning back in his chair and not bothering to sit properly, giving the Marshal a shit eating grin in return. Lord help them all. 

          "Yes, well, the wall seemed a good option at the time. I would like to discuss where you each aim to go with your research. Dr. Gottlieb, I know you will be moving your focus back onto coding for the jaegers and drift technology. New advancements are going to be extremely important as we repurpose and organize the PPDC with the goal of being prepared in case anything like this happens again." 

          "You mean turn them into your supped-up police force?" Hermann smacked Newton's calf lightly with his cane at this comment. 

          "Forgive him, I believe his brain is still mildly scrambled. I look forward to working towards improving the drift apparatus. I'm hoping to implement more safety measures that will help eliminate some of the harmful effects that have come to light over the years."

          Hermann wasn't any happier than Newton with some of the proposed plans for the managing of the PPDC. Disagreed outright with most of them. However, if he could oversee how some of that technology and advancement took shape in hopes of guiding it to less harmful uses, he'd happily bite his tongue. He was one of the main contributors to that tech, one of the remaining original coders, and he wasn’t going to abandon it to their whims.

          "Yes, of course, want our new rangers to be safe." The Marshal waved his hand slightly and his focus landed back on Newton. It became clear in that moment that Newton was the greater interest here which disturbed Hermann deeply. He had rather hoped Newton wouldn't be the center of attention, at least for a while, despite how much he clearly basked in it. "Now, Dr. Geiszler. My understanding is you've been working on isolating DNA from the kaiju?" 

          "Well, yeah, I did that a long time ago. I'm trying to preserve it now though for future research." Even Newton didn't seem as comfortable being under the Marshal's focus rather suddenly. He was fidgeting a little and wouldn't meet his eyes. Hermann gave him a narrowed look as he tried to assess what he was thinking. 

          Newton had been thinking a lot of things in regards to research. Trying to utilize the remaining kaiju blood samples to test experimental cleanup methods for the areas still heavily contaminated. Exploring the potential uses of those same contaminates given their unique molecular design. Testing treatments for those who still struggled under the effects of the kaiju blue poisoning. The environmental and potentially even medical benefits had been at the forefront of his mind.

          Hermann also knew there were _other_ lines of curiosity that ran a bit deeper in Newton’s thoughts. It hadn’t escaped his notice that Newton’s comment about getting the genetic material from possibly illegal sources hadn’t been entirely in jest. Just as his thoughts about what he might be able to achieve with the genetic material hadn’t been simply fanciful conjecture. However, Hermann hadn’t expected him to have actually suggested it to an official within the PPDC. Newton glanced at him and gave him a flicker of a smile but he was, for once, keeping his thoughts to himself entirely.

          “Dr. Gottlieb, if you’ll excuse us, I’d like to talk in length with Dr. Geiszler.” Hermann blinked as his focus switched back to the Marshal who gave him the facsimile of an apologetic look. He processed the fact that he was being dismissed and sat up a bit straighter as his stubbornness settled into place.

          “I beg your pardon?”

          “He can stay.” They spoke at the same time and the Marshal looked between them for a long and judging moment. There was no hint that what he felt he saw changed his mind. No sign that he would budge and allow Hermann to stay while he continued the conversation with Newton. Perhaps he thought Newton’s hesitancy was born solely from not wanting Hermann to know what he was suggesting. 

          “It won’t take long, I assure you. You can have my secretary take you down to the lab to check on how the setup is going in the meantime.”

 

          It had been the longest twenty minutes in his life but Newton felt oddly exhilarated afterwards. That elation was covered in a sheen of nerves because it had been like an interrogation. This guy was no Stacker Pentecost but he definitely was a bureaucrat who had zeroed in on something he wanted to use. Newton was pretty determined he wasn’t going to get the results he was hoping for.

          Marshal Bardley wanted full-sized kaiju that they controlled. Newton didn’t want that. Newton wanted lizard-sized kaiju that had free-fucking-will. He had left that part out of the report; he’d fudge it if it ever came to fruition. Right now, it was a pipe dream because he had no idea how to go about making a compatible surrogate womb for the things. That was a problem for later on; his current problem took the form of an angry mathematician who he _loved_ dearly.

          That was the part he tried to emphasis in the back of his mind; the love part. Cause they _loved_ each other. He tried to triple underline that thought as he felt Hermann’s irritation and worry in the back of his head. He was making his way down towards the labs, being escorted needlessly by the secretary, and Hermann was fuming. As they approached the elevator Newton rushed ahead to push the down button hoping his luck would work out just this once.

          The door dinged open immediately and he stepped inside, hit the floor of the lab and then the close door button quickly in succession as he watched the secretary try to hurry his steps to catch up with him.

          “You know, I can find my way from here. Really, just like all the other domes. Thank you though, I really appreciate it.”

          “Wait, Dr. Geis-“ The doors blissfully slid closed before the hand got in the way and Newton slouched against the wall of the elevator. He felt it shift to start its downward descent and closed his eyes to focus on that connection in the back of his mind. They tried not to actually converse like this, not full on conversations at least, but he could practically feel Hermann’s jaw setting itself in a stubborn line at that moment.

          _It was a one-line mention in my proposal. I didn’t think he’d ask about it. Hell, I didn’t even think he’d get what ‘use of interspecies nuclear transfer or artificial environments for potential replication’ would mean._

_**Well, clearly, he did. Why did you even…what possessed you to suggest…**_

          Hermann was for a loss of words even in his mind. Newton cringed a little. He’d joked about the cloning. It wasn’t like Hermann hadn’t been at least aware in an approximate manner to the concept. He had clearly not expected that Newton would actually mention or pursue it. Hermann really should know better by now.

          That thought slipped through just as the elevator doors opened and revealed his loving and _forgiving_ partner. Hermann stood, squared up to fight with his cane in front of him, both hands resting on the handle as he glowered.

          “Hermann!” Newton said it enthusiastically as he stepped out of the elevator and found, to his relief, that they were apparently alone in the hall way.

          “Dr. Geiszler…of all the irresponsible things-“ Hermann hissed the words at him as Newton rushed down the hall. He realized that he wasn’t keeping up and adjusted his steps so they were walking in pace as he gave Hermann an eyeroll.

          “You knew I was thinking about it.”

          “I was hoping that wiser thoughts would prevail. Instead, you went and handed the thought of producing destructive weapons-“

          “They aren’t weapons, Hermann! That’s the point! You saw…they weren’t always just weapons.” Newton felt his anger flare as he rounded on Hermann who stopped short and rose to his full height. They stared each other down for a few seconds, familiar stances, tense and straight-edged. “I won’t let them use them like weapons.”

          “You wouldn’t have a choice, Newton.” The tension drained out of them as suddenly as it had appeared. Wires snapping back into place as Newton made a noise of frustration and ran his hands through his hair. He knew that; which was why he planned to make them incompatible with being weapons. But he had needed the funding. The university wouldn’t be able to offer the resources and funding he’d need, not to mention he’d not have access to his samples. He needed justified research within the PPDC to have access to it all.

          “I feel like I need to try.” Newton couldn’t explain all the reasons why he felt that way. He just did. Because they’d seen it when they had drifted with them. The Precursors were the big bads but the kaiju were pawns. They’d been different, something else, before they’d been taken, experimented on and modified to be weapons of war. He didn’t like that end to the story. Hermann gave him an exasperated look as they fell in step once more. It wasn’t an argument they should be having out in the hall though Newton wasn’t sure the labs were a much better option.

          “It is risky, it is dangerous and I suggest that if you are set on continuing down this course that you do your best to present it as a failure. Because they will use it, Newton. If they know you succeed, they will use it and so you must present it as a failure no matter what.” Hermann spoke quietly, hand finding his so their fingers could link together as they walked. Newton hated that; hated that Hermann was right. Even lizard-sized kaiju could be used nefariously. And, if they knew it could be achieved on a small scale, they would push for a large-scale replication.

          “Right. Fail. I can do that.” Newton nodded his head as he tried to work through how he’d fabricate results.

          “I’m certain you can manage it, darling.” He heard the quiet snort of amusement from Hermann and gave him a look from over the top of his glasses as they finally stepped inside the lab. A look he hoped said exactly how he felt about Hermann’s sass.

          There was no yellow line running down the middle. The chalkboards were blank and new looking as they sat on Hermann’s side and there were minimal tanks lining the wall with their specimens glowing in that amber liquid. Aside from that it was the same though. Same lab. Same space. It was home.

 

*

 

          Hermann shifted in the bed, staring up the ceiling for a few moments. They had gotten settled into the loft just the day before. It had been a hectic month since they’d flown in to meet the Marshal and visit their prospective real estate options. They had started the process of purchasing the loft during that trip and finally completed it to move in before they were due to start work.

          They had cut it close but managed with a week left to spare. They both were to report for work at the San Francisco Shatterdome first thing a week from Monday. The lab was supposed to be setup and waiting for them and they’d be meeting their new staff. But that was a full week away so there was no reason for him to be up this early.

          It was two-thirty in the morning and Hermann was wide awake just as he had been for the past several nights. Newton struggled to get himself to bed but Hermann had the trouble of staying in it. He understood it on a basic level. They had kept odd hours during the war. There had always been something to do, something that needed to be done before the next breach event.

          Now, it was just silence and that unnerving sense that there was something untold hanging in the air that needed to be done. A held breath suspended in space that they couldn’t quite manage to let go of even after a full four months had passed. He could go through his notes or edit his reports a few more times. The formal reports had been submitted and now it was the papers that they would both be releasing. The released information carefully separated from the confidential bits that had been redacted, of course.

          Their drift together had been one of those redacted things. Or, heavily edited at the very least. It had been acknowledged that Dr’s Geiszler and Gottlieb had made a neural connection with the Precursor hivemind to find the key to closing the breach within the genetic coding of the kaiju themselves. It had been suggested heavily that this connection had been through fail safe methods and heavily monitored conditions. It had been sanitized and cleaned up for public consumption.

          Hermann was, perhaps, grateful for this given they’d still received a certain level of scrutiny in the media. The main tone had been praising the act but there had definitely been several negative takes on it. It hadn’t escaped the general notice that the drift was a two-sided experience.  But, had they all known that the ‘fail safe method’ had been a rushed together make-shift PONs that Newton had gone against orders to create it would have been far worse. It was one of the few things Hermann could say he appreciated from Lars. His father had pushed for the edits to the actual event. It had been to help the council avoid any more backlash for their pulled support of the Jaeger program but it had protected them from accusations in turn.

          Hermann shifted to turn onto his side so he could look at Newton now in the dim light. He’d done most of the heavy lifting of the day once the movers had gotten everything inside their loft. It had been one of the first nights he’d come to bed without an argument and Hermann envied his restful sleep. He looked soft lying there besides him, a sight Hermann still wasn’t accustomed to, with his hair sticking in every which direction and his expression relaxed and peaceful. His beautiful mess of a man.

          Hermann sighed quietly as he gave up. His mind was awake and the rest of him had followed suit in quick order. There was a sort of work he could do given the boxes stacked up in their new place. He sat up carefully, leaning for a moment to press a kiss against Newton’s temple before getting out of bed. He grabbed his cane and navigated without turning on the lights; an exercise in his memory and grace to not knock something over or trip.

          He made sure the bedroom door was closed behind him before making his way to the kitchen. It was easier to move about out here with their panorama of windows that let in moonlight and the hazy glow of street lamps down below. The shadows stretched long in the living room and he finally flipped on the light above the kitchen counter.

          The coffee pot had been one of the first things dug out of the boxes earlier and Hermann was endlessly grateful for that now. He set it up to start brewing before moving to the closest stack of boxes marked for ‘Kitchen’ in Newton’s messy handwriting. He carefully cut the tape open with one of the kitchen knives and set about getting their dishes organized as quietly as possible while the coffee pot gurgled and steamed away.

          As he worked, Hermann tried to catalog everything they needed to do over the next few days. They would have to unpack and have some semblance of organization before they’d report for duty. And, that coming Wednesday they would be meeting with the heads of their respective departments at the University of California-Berkley to discuss their series of guest lectures that would potentially lead into positions for them both in the fall. With any luck they’d soon be settled back into some semblance of normalcy. Hermann wasn’t entirely certain what normal was anymore after so long. If it hadn’t been for Newton, he’d be finding it all rather empty.

          He managed to find the mugs for the coffee shortly after it finished its percolating and poured himself a cup. Hermann took a sip of it, let the warmth sink into his chest as he looked out the windows at their view. In the distance he could see the lights of the remaining section of wall that cut off the exclusion zone. Beyond that would be the ocean and Hermann could almost hear the crash of its waves upon the abandoned shore. Remains of a war they hadn’t expected to see the other side of. An urgency that was apparently difficult to shake.

          Hermann felt the stir of movement before he heard it. Felt the steady rhythm of Newton’s mind shift to a groggy wakefulness that announced his presence long before he stumbled out of the bedroom to stare at him with squinting eyes. He hadn’t even grabbed his glasses so Hermann knew that he couldn’t really _see_ him at the moment.

          “Do you realize how early it is?” Newton mumbled the words as he tried to pick his way across the living room. He was far less successful at avoiding the stacks of boxes that had been left and he cursed quietly as he bumped into them. Hermann reached for him as he got closer and Newton reciprocated as he let himself be pulled against him. Hermann leaned back against the counter; Newton burying his face against his chest.

          “I was hoping not to wake you. I apologize.” Hermann placed a kiss on top of Newton’s head. Brushed aside the thought of shore lines and walls in favor of this. The weight of Newton resting against him, his arms around Hermann’s waist and warmth seeping into his bones.

          “Yeah, well…for all your talk about how loud I am your existential crises are very noisy.” Hermann ran a hand through Newton’s hair as he mumbled the words with a sleep-filled voice. It was a marvel either of them ever got any sleep given their shared restlessness that took turns overflowing from one to the other.

          “I was not having an existential crisis.” Hermann gave the hair at the back of Newton’s neck a gentle tug and he heard his laugh reverberate through him. Newton tilted his head back to look up at him, green eyes bright despite his fatigued state, arms tightening around his waist a little. “I was organizing the kitchen.”

          “And making predictive models for our future.”

          “I fail to see how that constitutes having an existential crisis.” Hermann took a sip of his coffee. Newton’s expression shifted a little in a way that made him look a touch sad as he pulled away. 

          “I kind of miss how full it felt too. But this is a good kind of empty, isn’t it?” Newton moved to grab one of the coffee cups from the box Hermann had left on the counter. He clearly was a louder thinker than he had believed.

          “It is. I think it just feels as if there is a lack of purpose. I know it’s a trivial sort of thing and I wouldn’t want it to go back to how it was…” Hermann stared down at his coffee as Newton poured himself some.

          “Hey.” Newton pulled Hermann’s attention away from those thoughts as he opened the fridge door to retrieve the cream. Hermann blinked at him expectantly as he disappeared from view for a second behind that door before he righted himself and hip checked it closed. “You know what my purpose is now?”

          “I recall conversations about illegal black-market deals but I sincerely hope you were being facetious.” Hermann raised a brow at him and Newton gave a soft non-committal noise as he made a little wavering motion with his hand with an exaggerated wince. Of course, he would be giving them some actual thought. He was, after all, seriously considering cloning the kaiju. What would be a few black-market deals on the side?

          “I mean, we can always talk about that later, but no. My purpose right now is loving you.” Hermann was fortunate he hadn’t taken another sip of his coffee as he felt the snort of amusement escape him. Newton waggled his eyebrows at him in exaggeration and there was a swell of adoration in Hermann’s chest. “You laugh but it’s a very urgent and ardent purpose, Dr. Gottlieb. I know you enjoy a rather _flippant_ approach to scientific matters such as these but I assure you that I take this extremely seriously.”

          Hermann rolled his eyes as Newton put on his airs that he’d used to mock him with more times than he could count over the years. He recognized the fondness in the teasing now better than he had been able to previously. Granted, he hadn’t realized that his feelings were reciprocated back then anymore than Newton had.

          Hermann watched him as Newton sauntered back up to him. He had a shrewd expression born of the fact that he was still visually impaired. It was a marvel he’d managed to correctly identify the creamer and get it added to his coffee without incident.

          “Oh dear, please, forgive me. I hadn’t realized these were serious matters we were discussing,” Hermann said as he made an attempt to keep the humor out of his voice. Newton grinned at him as he stepped closer; close enough the space between them was almost non-existent. Hermann rested his forehead against Newton’s with a content sigh. “If you are going to stay up with me you should grab your glasses. It will do no good if you can’t even see where your placing our dishes.”

          “Shh, in a few minutes, I’m gathering data.” Newton leaned up a little further to press a kiss against his lips and Hermann gave a happy hum. It was soft and lazy and perfect. Newton had as many different kisses as he did moods but these were perhaps Hermann’s favorites. Supple but earnest. Little declarations.

          “Did that data support your hypothesis, Dr. Geiszler?” Hermann mumbled the words as they parted, still close enough for their lips to brush as he spoke.

          “Hmm…can’t tell yet. Gonna need more information before I can say for certain. The subject seems a little uncooperative.” Newton sighed and shook his head in disappointment as he pulled back and took a long drink from his coffee. Hermann huffed with a bit of laughter before he shooed him away.

          “The subject would like to get our kitchen in order before breakfast since we’re up. Go get your glasses before you hurt either one of us.” Newton gave a dramatic gasp of offense though he did turn to head back towards the bedroom. If he went too long without his glasses on it was liable to give him a headache which they both would prefer to avoid.

          “Yeah, yeah. You happen to be borderline blind without your glasses on and suddenly you’re a risk to yourself and everyone-ow, shit…I’m fine!”

          Hermann shook his head as he watched Newton stumble his way back towards the bedroom. He let himself relax against the kitchen counter for a few moments as he took in the mess that was their new house. A place where they would be able to cultivate their own environment. Hermann couldn’t quite picture it looking into the shadowed space just then. It was lovely, that was why they had chosen it, but it wasn’t home yet.

          “You know-“

          Newton’s voice broke through the thoughts and Hermann sighed as he reappeared; just as disheveled as before but now at least with the ability to see. He flipped lights on as he made his way back to the kitchen, lighting up the space and chasing away the shadows from the corners. Newton breathed life into the place, as he so often did, and, in that moment, it became a bit easier to see it. The life they might be able to carve into the fabric of the universe here. It had just needed its heart.

          “I was thinking we could make the spare room into kind of a studio too. Like, my music and anything you want. Keep it as easy to convert into the spare bedroom it’s supposed to be but use it a little.” Newton moved to one of the boxes to immediately start diving in as he spoke. Hermann watched him, felt that culmination of all those years coalesce in that moment. Newton blinked at him a bit owlishly when he didn’t answer and gave Hermann a frown. “What’s up?”

          “I think that’s a wonderful idea, darling. No use having a space that only gets used when we have visitors.” Hermann smiled as he worked up the energy and focus to move once more. They set about their work, Newton babbling happily about this thing or another, as they got their space organized. The early morning stretched into daylight and then waned back towards evening as they ordered food in for dinner.

          By the end of the day, Hermann found he could see it. He could finally see their home taking shape.

         

         


End file.
